I hate having uncompleted games in my collection but here’s one that I’ve barely started. It’s not that I stopped playing it because I didn’t like it, far from it.

Far Cry 2 is an Open world first-person shooter developed by Ubisoft Montreal and released in 2008. I’ve owned it since early 2009 but have only ever completed 6 missions so last week I decided to throw it back on and see how far I can get with it.

The Plot

It would have probably been a good idea if I had started the game from scratch because I’ve totally forgotten exactly what was going on. Yeah I could look up the story line and share it here but that’s just going to spoil it.

What I do remember of the story is that you are a mercenary in Africa during a civil war trying to hunt down a arms dealer called the Jackal. In the process you team up with different armed groups completing missions but also killing them off.

The Environment

The developers have done a damn good job of creating a really good open world map. It’s very big but it also looks & sounds amazing. It’s one of those games that is so well detailed that when the wind moves the grass it actually looks and sounds like grass moving.

Set something on fire and it can spread across fields, up trees and whatever else can catch fire. It’s certainly a good feeling when you’ve won a major fire fight and half the area is up in flames. It also has a night/day cycle with changing weather.

Weapons & Action

There are a good amount of weapons in this game that can be unlocked and purchased from a weapons dealers in various locations. At the moment I’m running around with a pimped out golden AK47, an RPG, Makarov pistol and a big knife. I’ve also just unlocked the M249 & IED’s which are great weapons although triggering an IED can lead to disaster. Grenades also give off an impressive bang so good times can be had by spamming them everywhere.

There is plenty of action in Far Cry 2 with armed checkpoints in almost every 3rd road you travel on. Armed groups also patrol areas in Jeeps and cars that when spotted turns into a shootout.

The action isn’t too difficult but it’s not easy either. At times it can be very difficult to actually spot an enemy especially when there is thick overgrowth and trees. They have a good shot and it doesn’t take much for them to drain your health.

Map Editor

Its not something you see often in games these days but its something I enjoy toying around with. Although the map editor for Far Cry 2 looks easy I’d say you could probably spend months trying to create the perfect map.

Multiplayer

There is a Multiplayer feature but I’ve no idea what it’s like or if anyone is actually still playing Far Cry 2 online. Actually this is something that I will try soon; I just need to apply update that I’m getting prompted for on Xbox 360.

Would I recommend Far Cry 2?

Well I’m certainly enjoying the game for its action and visuals. The map is big with plenty of areas to explore and it looks really well. However, this is not the sort that you just sit down for a quick game. There is lots to do and missions can be a little bit annoying as you are sent to the other side of the map.

If you do like first person shooters in an open world map then you probably would like this game. Its certainty got hours worth of game play but dont forget I’m only at the beginning of the actual game.